Awakening of Blood
by Wernher von Braun
Summary: There are many worlds out there, similar yet also different. Among one of them, when the Future Witness was killed before the journey even begins, a being, sympathetic in spirit, listen to her plea. It offered her a contract, and it was established. But power comes at a price, and she soon learned that danger comes not only from outside but also inside; from her very soul.
1. Beware of Your Wish

**Beware of Your Wish**

" _No, no, no! This can't be happening!_ "

The blue-haired swordswoman dodged the swing of an axe before countering with her sword. The living dead roared in defiant before she permanently silenced it. She then avoided an arrow, only for it to hit one of her soldiers. She gritted her teeth before ran towards the archer.

"Milady, we can't stay here! We need to get out!" One of her soldiers exclaimed.

"I know that! But if we retreat at this state, we will be cut down immediately!" She replied the question before avoiding another arrow. "Stand your ground!"

Her soldiers tried to follow her order but it was useless. They lost too many men to create an effective defense and the remaining were on the verge of being killed or routed. As if those weren't bad enough, there seemed to be no end of their enemies; when one fall, two will replace it.

As her men fall one by one, she couldn't help but lament how when a hope arrived, it was then taken so abruptly, so unexpectedly, that it left a wound that could not be healed. Just when she thought that she and her friends could end the apocalypse before it was even started, she found herself walking closer to the afterlife.

Her thought was interrupted when one of _them_ managed to slash her at her back. She didn't know how bad exactly the wound was, but considering her diminishing consciousness, it was really bad at best.

She could only hope that it wasn't fatal.

Alas, the wound proofed to be one. Slowly, she was losing her strength; her sight became blurry, her swings were sloppy, and her feet were unable to support the weight of her body. She was forced to fight on her knee. It only took her opponent a few minutes to knocked her out and sent her sword away from her. It was only due to it being hit by arrows at the back that she was not finished.

As if fate itself decided to mock her resolve, she spent her last breaths looking as the Fell Dragon's pawns finished the last of her men. She looked at her sword, the last gift from her father, lying abandoned, cared none by the surrounding.

" _Father…Mother…Aunt Lissa…Uncle Lon'qu…Marc…Morgan…Owain…_ " As her eyes grew heavier, she started to think about them with regret overwhelming her. " _My friends…I am…sorry…_ "

Lucina, the heir of the throne of Ylisse, drew her last breath.

* * *

There was no God or Goddess that could overturn the cycle of life and death. It was an irrefutable law of nature that even they couldn't easily interfere with. And even if there was one that willing to do so, the result was far from mediocre. However, there was a being that was sympathetic to her plight.

It could not be defined as by the terms of the Heavens or the Earth. But rather it existed outside of them both and dwelled within the Cosmos itself. It reached for the exalted soul, cradling it. It held the potential to be tempered into a Hunter well-suited to do what must be done.

Alas, doing so would make the soul no longer exalted, for it would be too corrupted to even be called good. Retaining its morality, it could be. Being called good by others, it could still happen. But being _good_ , it would no longer be.

Such was the night of the Hunt. It took souls of all kind; old and young, man and woman, rich and poor, good and evil, and so on. Some ended up becoming nothing more than a beast, while others managed to reach that hill of silver flowers. Either they intended to do one last good deed or being awoken in the Waking World by the First Hunter.

This exalted soul would be no different.

Thus, it proposed a contract: An escape from death for as long as it served the will of this "Great One" and a respite to the waking world for every great feat befitting a "Hunter" chosen by it until the night of the Hunt is ended.

The exalted soul quivered in acceptance to escape death, yearning to return to life no matter what. So, the Great One dyed the soul the hue of paleblood and the contract was established, bringing the Future Witness to the Dream.

* * *

Lucina felt heavy as she slowly regained awareness. She was resting on the cold ground, lying in a bed of flowers that were silver and luminous, like moonlight sprouting from the earth. As she regained strength in her body, she lifted herself up slowly to take in the world that surrounded her; an isolated speck of land made of hillside and flowers, stones and graves worn by time, with the sole building being the one perched at the top of the slope ahead of her.

Confusion floated within the princess' mind as she tried to remember how she ended up in a hill full of flower. Then, there was the vivid memory of her being slashed at her back. Her usually stoic face lost its color and she immediately rubbed her back. Finding not even a hole in her clothes, tears started to form in her eyes.

" _I…died._ " She looked around, desperately trying to find anything resembling the environment where she was ambushed. Finding none, she knelt and put her face on the ground as she cried.

Was this the afterlife that awaited her? That thought was immediately gone from her head as she thought about her siblings, about her friends, about the survivors of Grima's rampage. She was their leader, their inspiration, their light in this dark time.

And she had died.

"I am sorry. I am sorry…"

She sat there weeping for who knows how long, until the squeaking of metal wheels being pushed forward reached her ears. She lifted her head upwards towards it. There was an old man there that had seen many nights, looking down at her.

"Ah… the new Hunter, are you?" the older man said. "A bit young, I suppose, but welcome to the Hunter's Dream. It will be your home, for now."

"The Hunter's Dream?" Lucina wiped the tears from her face. "So, this is not Heaven?"

"I doubt such a dream could be called such." He gestured for her to rise. "I am Gehrman, friend to you hunters. And you are?"

"Lucina…"

"Well then, Lucina. Do you remember how you arrived here?"

"I died...in an ambush." Lucina became somber as she started to think about the effect of her death. "I died just when I thought I can…make things better. Now, my family and friends must be falling in despair. They will still do what we have planned before but…I don't think they will be in an optimal condition."

"…Do not give up hope so easily, young hunter." Gehrman said with some hesitation. "There must a purpose that brought you here, a purpose that drove you to sign a contract. Many hunters have come and gone through this dreadful dream in exchange for something to be gained. Perhaps you too will gain what you seek by fulfilling your end."

Hope started to grow in the heart of the princess. If this was not Heaven, then there might be a chance to go back. Naga has told her about the Outrealm and its many worlds. This could be merely one of them. She didn't remember ever signing any contract, but she doubted that was important.

For now, she needed to find a way to get back to her world.

"How do I do that?" Lucina asked.

"You must halt the scourge of beasts and end the night of the hunt if you wish to leave this dream," he said, turning the wheelchair around. "Come now. The night may be long, but there is much for you to learn."

Lucina followed the elderly man to the workshop at the top of the slope, past the doll that laid still. When they went inside, rather than checking the building to see whether there was a trap – a habit that she built over the years, her eyes immediately fell on the sword on the table.

"Falchion!" She exclaimed as she dashed towards the table and picked up her sword. "How…?"

"That sword is yours, huh?" Lucina turned around to see Gehrman moved closer to her. "That could explain why I found it when I woke up."

The princess of Ylisse inspected Falchion curiously. She remembered how she was separated from the sword when she was…killed. Lucina frowned and shook her head. The fact that she had died was still something hard to accept.

"Well, with that taken care of, all that's left is to complement your range." The old man said as he went towards another table.

He grabbed something from it and showed it to Lucina. It was a wooden block with an iron tube attached to it. The wooden block reminded her of a crossbow except the size was bigger.

"What is that?" Lucina asked as she tilted her head.

"It's a pistol," Gehrman replied before he aimed the tube into the ceiling.

When the trigger was pulled, she was surprised by the thunderous sound created by the pistol. Lucina looked at where the pistol was aimed and found quite a sizeable hole there. She could see the sky through the hole, indicating that the pistol's ammunition managed to penetrate it. The princess let out a whistle spontaneously. She never saw an arrow loosed from either a longbow or crossbow manage to penetrate that far.

She was then shown by the old hunter how to reload the pistol before it was given to her. She didn't know whether her eyes were deceiving her, but Lucina swore that the ammunition used by the pistol was liquid.

She was proven right when Gehrman gave her a bottle of mercury mixed with blood.

"Usually, it's not something I need to give." The old man said about the bottle. "But considering your knowledge about firearms, or rather, lack of thereof…"

Lucina couldn't help but glare at Gehrman, who ignored it. He picked up a parchment and looked at it with his hand on his chin as if he was reading something very interesting.

"Now, one last thing, but not the least; the value of blood." The old man stated.

"Blood?" The word reminded her of the bottle that was given to her not even a minute ago.

"Blood has many uses for us hunters. Healing and strengthening both body and steel are simply the most used ones, but not all of it." Gehrman dropped his hand from his chin to look closer at the princess. "Your blood is…unique. There's something more than it that flow in your veins."

"It could be because I am of the Exalted Blood. Our blood is blessed by Naga." Lucina suggested.

"Blessed?" Gehrman seemed to be curious before laughed a little. "Careful. Power comes at a price."

She decided not to retort his warning. It mattered not for her and she was sure that the old hunter wouldn't care about what she would say about the blessing.

"You have all the necessary tool and knowledge. Now, go pray at the headstone and find some beasts to kill." Gehrman ordered her before exiting the workshop.

Lucina stood inside the workshop alone before exiting it as well. Seeing no sight of even his hair, she tried to find the headstone that Gehrman meant.

As she searched for it, Lucina wondered how long time would pass back in the…living world. She knew that a flow of time between one Outrealm was different with another one. Thus, she could be spending weeks in Hunter's Dream yet only a few minutes in the living world.

In any case, the princess of Ylisse hoped that she wouldn't spend a long time halting the scourge of beasts and ending the night of the hunt. Though to be honest, it was clear that it wouldn't be a long journey. After all, it was only a night, as the name indicated.

Little did she knew that while it was only a night, it would be the longest – and the bleakest – night that she ever experienced.

* * *

 **And this chapter is done.**

 **If you have a question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.**

 **Review, please!**


	2. Land of Steel Tower

**Land of Steel Tower**

When Lucina regained her consciousness, she found herself sleeping on a hospital bed. Grudgingly, she pulled herself from the bed and almost fell when she tried to stand up. The princess shook her head before trying to find a way out.

She silently walked through the empty hallway, Falchion in her right hand and Hunter Pistol in her left hand. She tended to keep her eyes on her new weapon. It was like a simpler version of a crossbow. The Pistol didn't even need good muscle to be used, unlike crossbow since you need to pull the string. And while there was a device to ease the pulling, muscle was still necessary.

Simpler than crossbow yet much stronger. She needed to get this back when she returned home.

Lucina stopped her thought when she heard something dangerous. She silently approached the room where she believed to be where the voice was coming from. When she looked inside, she saw what appeared to be a monstrous version of a wolf feasting on a human corpse. Lucina gritted her teeth upon seeing the scene.

Slowly, she approached the beast, trying to not alert it. Alas, it was useless; the beast stopped eating and smelt the air before looking at her. It lunged towards her, making Lucina rolled away to dodge. It only stopped momentarily before attempting another lunge. The princess fired the Pistol and managed to land a hit, staggering the beast. Seizing the opportunity, Lucina charged at the beast and stabbed it at the head.

However, it didn't kill the beast. It moved wildly, trying to get rid of the offending sharp metal in its head. Lucina held tightly on Falchion, pushing it deeper to kill the beast faster. The beast kept struggling but slowly becoming weaker. Finally, it fell on the floor, no longer alive.

" _There's no way this creature is normal._ " Lucina thought. " _Even Risen will die if stabbed in the head._ "

The princess took out Falchion from the beast and continued her journey to find a way out. She succeeded and was now blocked by two gates. She approached one of them and tried to push it open to no avail. She when to another one and this time, despite with big effort, managed to open it.

When Lucina passed through the gate and looked around, she was amazed by what she saw. Tall buildings stretching as far as her eyes can see, entire road pebbled, architecture style that she never saw, many parts of this place made it different from Ylisstol or every other place that she ever visited.

As she walked, the princess wondered where the people that lived here were. She stopped for a moment upon seeing a rotting corpse of a horse before continuing as she tried to hold her disgust.

Lucina finally saw someone. She was about to greet him when he turned around. Lucina took a step back and look closely at his face. The only way she could describe it was that it looked familiar to a Risen. She gulped before slowly approaching him.

The man suddenly ran at her, swinging around the axe in his hand. The princess rolled away before decapitating him. The now headless man let go of his axe and torch and fell unto the road. Lucina approached it and looted anything useful from it. She managed to find a blood vial. According to Gehrman, blood can be used for healing. Maybe it was like a potion?

Lucina looked around, trying to find a route to continue her journey. Upon seeing a lever, she approached it and pulled it, causing a ladder to fell from a building. She climbed up and upon reaching the end, saw a lantern in front of her. Curiously, she walked closer into it and found it to be not in use. However, she saw a rope underneath it for some reason. When she pulled it, a purple fire suddenly appeared inside the lantern and several creatures came from the ground.

Lucina jumped back and readied for an attack. The creatures, however, did nothing of sort. They simply held the pole that held the lantern and some moaned towards her. The princess hesitantly sheathed Falchion and tried to touch them. When they within reach, the creatures held her hand softly, not intending to hurt her.

"I guess you guys aren't enemies," Lucina commented as she withdrew her hand.

The creatures seemed to be saddened by her action, judging from their voices. They immediately recovered though and submerged back to the ground, leaving others to hold the lantern's pole.

Lucina decided to explore around the area for a while before someone suddenly spoke to her.

"Oh, you must be a Hunter, and not one from around here either." Lucina turned her head, seeing the silhouette of someone behind a caged window. "I'm Gilbert, a fellow outsider."

"Hello, Mr. Gilbert. Name's Lucina." The princess introduced herself. "I am sorry if my question is strange but do you know the name of this city?"

"You don't know?" Gilbert asked curiously. "Ah, never mind. This city is called Yharnam. You must have had a fine time of it. Yharnam has a special way of treating guests."

"Yeah…" Lucina looked at the direction of the strange Yharnamite that she had just killed earlier. "They have a special way."

"I don't think I can stand if I wanted to but I'm willing to help if there's anything that can be done."

"Hmm…" Lucina thought for a while before asking. "Any place that you would suggest for me to go to?"

"Let's see…you should try the Healing Church."

"The Healing Church?"

"See that bridge over there? That's the path to the Church. The church controls all knowledge on blood ministration and all varieties of blood."

Lucina looked at the bridge that Gilbert mentioned. As she thought about a way to get there, he continued his explanation.

"Across the valley to the East of Yharnam lies the town of the Healing Church, known as the Cathedral Ward. And deep within the Cathedral Ward is the old grand cathedral. The birthplace of the Healing Church's special blood…or so they say."

"Thanks for the advice, Mr. Gilbert. I appreciate it." Lucina was about to go when Gilbert said something.

"Wait, before you go, a warning." The princess looked at the window. "This town is cursed. Whatever your reasons might be you should plan a swift exit. Whatever can be gained from this place, it will do more harm than good."

After receiving the warning, Lucina continued her exploration, trying to find a way to reach the Cathedral Ward. Along the way, she encountered more of the locals and all of them were hostiles. It was not unlike fighting the Risen, except that the bodies didn't disappear after being killed.

* * *

After killing the last of her attacker, Lucina began to wonder about Gilbert's warning. He stated that whatever she gained from Yharnam would do more harm than good. But she doubted there was something worse than the end of the world, which was what happened in her home. She walked towards one of the bodies and picked up the thing that caused her doubt.

It was a firearm but longer than the Hunter Pistol. She subconsciously rubbed her left breast, where she got shot by it. As of now, the wound has been healed and there was no hole there. Though Lucina wondered whether the bullet was still inside her.

Speaking of the wound, she hoped that there was a place where she could have a bath. She was literally covered in blood from head to toe.

Lucina looted the former owner of the long firearm and found several bullets; quicksilvers and ones made from lead. The latter was longer than the former, meaning that they were likely the bullets meant for the long firearm.

She fiddled with the weapon, trying to figure out how it worked. Lucina managed to find out how to load the bullet into the long firearm; by using a lever to open a hole in the breach. After loading the weapon, she aimed at a corpse. When she pulled the trigger, the weapon flew from the princess' hands due to the unexpected strength of the recoil.

Lucina picked up the long firearm and shouldered it. She then looted the rest of the corpses before continuing her exploration.

* * *

" _Damn it, Gehrman!_ " Lucina cursed as she avoided the hand that tried to smash her. " _Is it too much to warned me about_ this kind of beast _?!_ "

When Lucina reached the bridge and slew the two beasts that were blocking the way, she ran across it, intending to reach the place as soon as possible. However, her path was soon blocked by a giant monster. She didn't know why but the name "Cleric Beast" came to her mind when looking at it.

So far, things didn't go well for her.

She managed to dodge most of its attack. However, she didn't too much damage on the Cleric Beast. She slashed, she stabbed, she shot, she threw several Molotov cocktails, and yet the Beast didn't even slow down.

Lucina wondered if it was because she wasn't strong enough. She paid more attention to her speed and agility than the strength of her attack. She wasn't exactly weak in that department by any standard but it was clear that her strength wasn't enough to go against the Cleric Beast.

In the end, Lucina made on the wrong step, and that was the only thing necessary for the Beast to grabbed her. She struggled, trying to release herself from its hand but it was useless. It held her close to its face before the Cleric Beast screamed at her and threw the princess from the bridge.

Lucina couldn't do anything except staring in horror at the pebbled road that was becoming closer and closer to her. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact.

When she finally crashed, her head was splattered across the road. Lucina was killed once again.

* * *

Lucina immediately sat up from the ground, rubbing her head. Seeing that it was still intact, she looked at her clothes, seeing no trace of blood on them. At first, she thought that it was a dream but then she realized that she still had the long firearm that she looted from a Yharnamite that she killed.

" _So, I died…again?_ " Lucina thought as she stood up.

Looking around, she found out that she returned to the Hunter's Dream, the same place where she ended up to when she got killed back at her world.

" _Seems I'll return here if I got killed._ " The princess thought as she walked towards the workshop. " _That's…convenient, I guess._ "

When she reached the workshop, Lucina noticed that there was a woman standing near it. When she got closer, she remembered her; that woman was the doll that she saw when she arrived in the Dream for the first time. Yet now, it was standing there, not unlike a normal human.

"Hello, good hunter. I am a doll, here in this dream to look after you." The Doll said as she bowed.

"Umm…hello to you too, Doll," Lucina said as she bowed back.

"You appear to be troubled, good hunter."

"Just…got killed. That's all." Lucina tried to not make a big deal of it. " _Wow, would you look at that._ "

"I see. I am afraid that there is nothing I could do for you about that. It is merely part of the hunt." The Doll explained, looking regretful.

"It's alright. Everything's fine." Lucina tried to assure her. "Is there a place where I can rest?"

"Take this path, and it will lead you to a field of flowers." The Doll gestured at the path. "Rest as long as you need, good hunter. That is one of the purposes of the Dream; for hunters to rest until they continue their hunts."

The princess nodded in response and followed the path that the Doll gestured, leaving her behind. After walking for a while, she saw a big tree in the middle of the field of flowers. Lucina approached the tree and sat under it.

After a while, drowsiness engulfed her and the princess soon found herself asleep peacefully under the moon.

* * *

 **And the chapter is done.**

 **About the storyline, there will be times when she returns to her world and times when she has to go back to the Hunter's Dream and Yharnam.**

 **If you have a question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.**

 **Review, please!**


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